Wednesday in Porto Morelos

 I had a lousy night but was able to sleep in until about 0715. Caro stated that she ws up at 0500 and went to watch the sunrise at 0600.

Our transportation picked us up at 0900 (same Sprinter type van with driver as picked us up at airport last Sunday night)

The drive to Puerto Morelos took quite a while with lots of traffic and some occasional flow stoppages.

We got to Hector's place and met with Hector,Tete and Ruben. Some of the family went shopping while the others stayed behind just chatting.

Upon returning from shopping we were happy to see Mirna (Hector's girlfriend)

Fernando,Edu and Fercho then arrived from Play del Carmen where they are vacationing.

Hector had arranged  for a taco food truck to bring over and prepare a complete taco meal. Everyone loved the food with Nathan and the grandkids enjoying this type of traditional Mexican Fiesta for the first time,

Afterwards Fercho toòk Mike and family to the local beach for a break from the busy family goings on.

While they were gone Vanessa noticed some monkees in the trees nearby. I got a nice photo,

Just before our return ride showed up we snapped a few photos of the family. Unfortunately there is a reflection in the photo but that is the best shot there is.

Tuesday, Mexican family arrives.

 Today was a special day for us as Hector,Tete and Ruben came to visit. It cost them $US 125 each (!!!) for a day pass. Holy Cow!

We passed the day either in the pool or at the ocean. The heat got to various people at times but all in all it was a great day

At 1700 hours we had a photographer booked for family photos which were taken either at the beach or at a scenic building  on site.

We were able to take some photos with our iphones however the photo of the family group will have to wait until we buy one from the photographer

Most of the family were able to make supper (Nathan and Beckett down for the count).

We sat around the buffet table for almost two hours and then carried on our conversations in our room with Lisa and Vanessa joining us.

Around 2130 we walked the guests back to Hector's car in the parking lot. Tomorrow we are going to see them in Puerto Morelos at Hector's house.

Monday First day at Resort

 Today was a day of discovery as we all looked around the resort with the grandkids enjoying various pools and the ocean.

All the kids had too much excitement and heat at various times and needed naps, or time away from everyone else. Considering the long day yesterday and the long,hot day today they were really good!

Meals were more or less spent together at buffets ; there are three here serving different types of foods and open at different times of the day,

Lisa and I watched Monday night football in her room while Caro, Vanessa,Nathan and Michelle went to the 2130 show. Lisa and I had the monitor for Beckett. Mike crashed with his kids. Honestly we are all tired.

First photo is from yesterday on the plane

The resort is stunning and we will have a wonderful time here I am sure

Cancun Nov 19/2023

 For several months we have been planning for our whole family to come to Cancun. Michelle selected Barcelo Maya Palace near Tulum ( a five star kid friendly resort).

We all came down on the same Westjet flight, direct from Edmonton and at about 5:45 PM local time we were on the ground.

After quite a bit of waiting everyone retrieved their luggage and so we went to the appropriate location to get our private transportation. Before leaving the area we asked the driver to please take us to another part of the airport where Hector,Tete and Ruben were waiting to be introduced to Nathan and all the grandkids (they had met the rest of our kids on other trips).

After lots of hugs and kisses we said our temporary goodbyes and were off to the resort.

First impressions are WOW! What a place! We are in the section that allows us access to all of the  various hotels,restaraunts and facilities. The people in the other sections cannot come to our area (apparently).

We arrived quite late so with everyone quite hungry (and getting very tired) so we quickly found the buffet.

After that it was lights out for everyone!

 

Home Again

 Sunday night

We were up about 8 AM and lazed around for a while before going to the motel continental breakfast.

Shortly before 10 AM we went to the Remington Carriage Museum. After spending two enjoyable hours there we gassed up and left town at noon. I forgot to take photos so snagged this one off the net.

We drove through beautiful pasture lands (Blood Reserve) and continued until Nanton where we stopped at Tim Horton's for lunch (yummy new menu items!).

We drove through Calgary using Deerfoot Trail (very quick as it is Sunday) with our next stop at about 3:40 PM  at Veronica and Serge's place, "just for a coffee break". Two hours (plus) later after being fed another meal by Veronica we were on our way!

Caro drove the remainder of the way home with us pulling into the driveway at 8:20 PM.

Waterton Park

 After a great night in Pincher Creek we ate our breakfast at A+W and by 10 AM we were in Waterton Park. I had forgotten to bring my park pass however the fellow at the park gate said I could keep today's paid receipt and within thirty days take it to another national park office where, along with my yearly park pass, show today's receipt and get reimbursed. Excellent!

Today was stunningly beautiful and according to a guide we had later on in the day this weather was exceptionally good. 

We started our hiking by heading up to Cameron Lake where we walked the west side as far as we could before the trail ended. It was beautiful.

This was a 3.4 km round trip hike over rooted dirt path with occasional muddy spots to deal with.

From the parking lot there we also completed a 1 km round trip hike to Akamina Lake.

On the drive back to town we took the opportunity to stop and read the information on Western Canada's first commercially viable oil well. Really interesting.

At Waterton town site we had a snack type lunch and then headed over to the marina to catch the 2 PM boat trip on the big lake; we had purchased these tickets earlier in the day which was probably a good thing as even though the town itself is not crowded the boat seemed quite full. We were just able to get seats on the top (open) deck.

After a beautiful blue sky, nice temperature, and some great guide commentary our one hour, 15 minute boat tour ended and we were back in town.

More hiking followed at Cameron Falls in town followed by walking around just viewing things,

Tonight we had a great supper and are in Cardston enjoying a bottle of bubbly (courtesy of Mike and Michelle).

The drives in this part of the province are simply the best! We love all the beautiful vistas and endless changes of scenery. An example (taken this morning) gives an idea but the photo simply cannot do the scenery justice!

It seems like,time and time again, we have a great day when travelling.

Another Road Trip

 We left town about 9:15,heading to the south of the province.

Caro drove to Olds at which point we gassed up, ate lunch at Tim Horton/Wendy's and I took over.

We had decided to drive southward down highway 22 which is slower but the scenery is beautiful.

While going though Black Diamond I missed the turn to continue on highway 22. It turned out for the best as at Okotoks  we saw the glacier erratic rock (I haven't seen that in decades). Another missed turnoff and we ended up on highway 2A to High River which was interesting as we went by a huge series of solar panels near the Cargill facility.

We finally got to our main stop of the day at 1600 hours. Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump was really good. I remember being there many years ago however my memories of it were faint therefore today was like seeing it for the first time again. We had one hour to visit before closing time and that turned out to be pretty much all we needed.

Upon leaving the Jump site we headed directly west (and later south) on a secondary highway that was mostly gravel (but not bad to drive on). We ended up going through a shower or two before entering an area FULL of power producing wind turbines. COOL!!

Our stop for the night was Pincher Creek. I hadn't really checked prices ahead of time so we were very surprised to see $250/night costs. Caro suggested we try a motel that looked "OK" but wasn't on Hotels.com or Booking.com. The sign on the counter inside the office said "no vacancy" however we hit the jackpot as a guest had just cancelled a minute before so we got the room at a very reasonable rate of $118. The room is perfect for us tonight.

We ate at the Chinese food place we had eaten at many years ago and had LOVED then. There was no difference with this visit. The place was packed and it was buffet night with a wonderful selection. OMG, another spectacular meal at the Bright Pearl!

Caro remembers us camping at the local campground.We drove around but I remember nothing. Caro remembered the laundry/office building. The place is pretty run down now.

A great day today!